Marshmallow Pumpkins

I saw these on Pinterest and just had to try them.  they are pretty straightforward.  Just coat marshmallows with orange melted chocolate and put a piece of pretzel in the top for a stem.  I used black gel to draw faces on a few, but I like them plain better. 

Follow the directions on the back of the bag of the white chocolate chips for melting them.  If the chocolate seizes up on you, just add a tablespoon or two of shortening to it and microwave for 30 seconds then stir. 

I used some food coloring that came in a tube and was sort of like a gel.  I squirted about a half teaspoon of each of red and yellow into 2 cups of white chocolate chips.

My Boos!

 

Here is a great treat for the adults!  I made these wine glasses from Dollar Tree wine glasses.  It's hard to see in the photos, but the bowls of the glasses are green glass.  I then "painted" on them with a Sharpie!

You can then make it permanent by baking the glasses in the oven.  Here is a link to the directions for how to do that: http://www.wikihow.com/Paint-Wine-Glasses

The back side of the glasses say "My Boos".  I filled some with candy corn and some with blow pops.  I think the grown ups will really enjoy these.  

Happy Halloween!!!

Ghoulish Goblets

If you have some tweens or even teenagers or just some fun loving adults that you would like to give a Halloween treat, check out these "Ghoulish Goblets"!  Everything I used came from Dollar Tree.  So these are very inexpensive to make.

They also look great on my spooky linens on my dining room table!  Can you tell I love Halloween, 

Halloween 2013

Well, it's almost here, Halloween 2013!!!  I have shown you some of my favorite crafts and decorations from years past and one great pumpkin from this year.  Now it's time for a few new things from this year. 

I am sure you have seen the "Witch's Legs" that are all over Pinterest.  Well, I made them!  I skipped the cauldron and just stuck them in the ground.  I found some striped socks on sale at Joann's Fabrics, I got a pair of shoes at Goodwill, I got a skinny but long pool noodle at the Dollar Tree and I anchored them on an old curtain rod that a pounded in to the ground.  One footnote, you need to stuff some grocery bags in the foot of the sock so the shoes will stay on.  Here is what it looks like outside of my dining room window!

 

This year I used a half bale of hay to make my outdoor pumpkin display.  I have this round stone thing in my front yard.  No idea what it is for, but I put some bulbs in it and grow flowers in the summer and, in the Fall, I use it for my pumpkin display.  The half bale fits in there nicely.  We went to the pumpkin patch and I got a white "pumpkin" which is some type of gourd and weighs a TON!!!  Then I went to the garden supply place up the street from me and got the hay and the other pumpkins and mums.  I just love how it looks!

 Last, but by no means least, here is the costume I made for my grandson this year.  He is obsessed with a cartoon called "Fireman Sam".  It's a cartoon from Wales. Top is a picture of Fireman Sam.  Here is a jacket that will allow him to be Fireman Sam for Halloween.

So that's it from our family.  We are well prepared for Halloween!  Hope you and your family are excited and ready for the fun of Halloween!  Happy Hauntings!

Halloween Fun!!!

Here are some of my favorite Halloween decor pieces and treats.  Some I have made and some I have compiled over the years.  Enjoy!

I made these Candy Corn Marshmallow Pops last year.  I dipped then in white chocolate melts that I colored yellow first and then I added red to make the chocolate orange and dipped them again.  The eyes are green gel cake decorating icing.

This is a topiary I made last year.  They are hollow artificial pumpkins that I got at Joann's.  I drilled holes in them and put them on a wood dowel.  Then I put a bow on the top, wrapped some leaves and foil leaf garland around it.  It is in a pot that was left at the house when we bought it.  It has annuals that bloom in the summer, but it's quite desolate in the fall and winter.  So this is a festive way to use it.  I have to think of something for the winter.  (Wheels are turning.)

One of my favorite pieces!  I have had it for years.  The Green M & M is so sassy!!!  FYI, she is not permanently attached and has been lost several times.  I think I finally hot glued her on.

My mantle.  I have a collection of small nut crackers.  Yup!  Nutcrackers!  Close ups to follow.

Dracula and you can see when I got him.

Frankie, looks like 2010 peeking out on him too.

Not sure who or what this guy is, but I love him!!!

Now, who doesn't love a little Disney with their Halloween?  Well I DO!!!  I love a little Disney with everything!!!  This is just perfect!  Did I mention that Halloween is HUGE in my house?  Yeah.  Once had a neighbor describe my house as "totally overdone" for Halloween.  I like chocolate!  You might like vanilla.  So be it.

 This is the shelf in my bathroom.  The side pieces are from the dollar store.  They have candy corn in them and battery operated tea lights.  The ribbon was an impulse buy at Michael's on clearance.  The candle was an impulse buy on clearance from Kohl's.  

This is a pumpkin costume that I made for my son who just turned 30.  This is my grandson wearing it 2 years ago when he was almost 1.  This year he is just about to turn 3.  

This is a costume I made for my grandson last year.  Johnny Depp has nothing on him!!!  Not a button hole or sipper in sight!!!  Just some elastic and a frog closure.  To capture this image, I used a roll of blue paper background and a rolled it out so he could walk and crawl around on it.  Then I just let him loose!  I used two soft box lights to light the image.  I find that photographing children is a specialty that requires a lot of patience and is not something you can really "pose" or "stage".  You just set up an environment and put them in it.  You start shooting, shoot a LOT of frames and generally you will have some great shots.  http://www.rocktheshotforum.com/

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour.  Happy Halloween!!!

Black, White, Bling, and Boo!

This is what can be done with a dollar store foam pumpkin.  I saw them at Dollar Tree a few weeks ago and I picked one up not knowing what I was going to do with it, but painting it soon came to mind.

I didn't want to spend any money, I was determined to use what I had around my house to get this done.  So here is what I used:

I was very happy to find some of this appliance paint in my basement.  I knew it would give the pumpkin ceramic like look.  This is after one coat of paint, I did two coats.

This is after two coats of paint.  You can't see the orange or the color of the stem anymore, but the seams where the top and the bottom are joined still shows.  So I wanted to do something to hide that.  Ribbon came to mind.

Up to my craft room to find some ribbon.  I found the majority of a roll of 1 inch wide satin ribbon (an impulse buy on clearance) that seemed like a good idea.  Then I thought a black and white pumpkin with some bling on it sounded cool so I dug out some rhinestones I had laying around.

After that, I found these floral pins with "diamonds" on the heads that I had pulled out of flowers at a wedding I attended and put in a zip loc bag not knowing what I would ever do with them.  I thought they would be perfect because I could just push them in to the pumpkin.

 The bows in the top are tied in the middle with some black curling ribbon.  The "diamond" pins are on the top of the ribbon.  

 I was able to just push the pins in to the pumpkin.

There are some smaller rhinestones below the ribbon, perhaps 1/4 inch round ones, and about 1 inch oval ones around the ribbon.  

 I think it's really cool!  Hope you like it.  Have a spooktacular Halloween!!!